


I am more

by Redpandalavellan



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/F, POV Warden (Dragon Age), oneshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24926308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redpandalavellan/pseuds/Redpandalavellan
Summary: A small collection of oneshots about another of my wardens, Georgia Brosca
Relationships: Female Brosca/Leliana (Dragon Age), Leliana/Female Warden (Dragon Age), Leliana/Warden (Dragon Age)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. Dizzy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Georgia Brosca gets her second chance at life

She paused before the great metal doors and Duncan advanced a few paces ahead before he noticed she wasn't following.  
"Georgia?" He turned with a questioning glance as she stood, staring at the doors and nervously chewing her lip.  
"I- I'm coming." She stuttered, pushing the fear from her mind and hurrying to catch up.  
He smiled at her kindly, and replied in his usual even tones.  
"I understand your trepidation, but we've a lot of ground to cover. It's time to go."

She nodded, placing a hand on the cool surface of the door. She had stood before these doors many times, imagining what might lay beyond. The returning merchants had told her of the surface sometimes growing up, when they hadn't called her a filthy brand and driven her away from their stalls. She heard tales of a blue sky and wide open spaces, tall trees and water dripping from an invisible ceiling. It couldn't possibly all be true, but she liked to imagine it, standing before the doors, the barrier between everything she knew and everything that might be out there.

But always she had turned away. Gone back to dust town, back to the slum. Whatever might be up there, it wasn't for her. Her place was down here, with her sister, she couldn't simply leave. There was nothing better for her alone in an unfamiliar world.  
Now she had little choice. It was this or death, and she was in no hurry for that. With Duncan watching her she did something she had never done before in all her visits to this place. She pushed open the doors and stepped outside.

At first the light was blinding, the soft glow of torches replaced by a fierce clear light, aching the edges of her eyes. She squinted and covered her face, and when she lowered her arms the sight took her breath away. The sky stretched away above her, clear and blue with seemingly no end to it. Nothing she heard could have prepared her for this, a world with no ceiling, she simply stared up in wonder. And it moved! Pieces of white drifted across the expanse like the slow flowing rivers of lava throughout the city, and the longer she looked at it the more strange she felt.  
She found herself feeling lightheaded and dizzy, like the time her and Leske had snuck into the basement of tapsters and emptied an entire cask, laughing together in the dark.  
But this time it was so light.

Finally she tore her eyes away from the sky and looked at the rest of the outside world. Tall green trees stretched towards the sky, covered in a white powder. Snow, someone had once called it? Other people were clustered in an open courtyard, dwarves and humans mingling and talking as if this was the normal way of things. She supposed it was, now.  
Duncan was stood a few feet away from her, watching in silence. She blushed in embarrassment, thinking what a foolish sight she must make gaping at the sky and looking as if she were about to pass out.  
"Are you ready to go?"

Was she ready? Everything out here was foreign, new, terrifying, thrilling. Every step was a step further than she'd ever gone, every sight another thing she was seeing for the first time.  
Part of her was overwhelmed, wanted to run straight back inside, crawl into the lowest part of dust town and take comfort with solid rock above her head.  
But another part of her couldn't wait to get started. A whole new world was out here, a million new things, a chance to really make something of herself like she would never get in Orzammar.

She nodded firmly.  
"I'm ready."  
He smiled warmly and inclined his head in their next direction of travel.  
"Then let's get underway."


	2. Enchanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Each day on the surface brings another opportunity

As the final man fell Georgia sighed and wiped the blood from her daggers onto the skirt of her leather armour. She would have time to clean it properly this evening, but for now she just wanted to keep the blades from rusting as they continued to travel.  
After a cursory glance to make sure her companions were okay, she began her usual sweep of the battlefield, stripping the bodies of anything that could be useful or valuable.  
Most equipment was too low quality, or damaged in the fight, or simply too cumbersome to take with them, but as she went she managed to gather a few coins and a decently strong leather cap to sell to the next merchant they came across. She turned over the final body and saw the glint of a dagger, bloody but seemingly undamaged.

She pulled it from the man's hand eagerly, wiping off the blood and turning it over in her palm. It was dull steel, clearly not well maintained, but as she tested the edge it sliced deep into her finger, much sharper than it appeared.  
She swore loudly and Leliana turned to face her in surprise, suppressing a small giggle as she saw the dwarf trying to act nonchalant about it.   
Georgia turned away, face red with shame. Some nimble rogue she was, making a fool of herself in front of the pretty chantry girl.  
She wrapped a small scrap of cloth around her finger and then set about re-examining the knife.

"Are you alright?" Alistair asked, wandering over with his hand resting on the pommel of his sword at his hip.  
"I'm fine." She replied cheerfully, her curiosity too piqued by the new instrument to care about the pain.  
"Look at this!" She enthused, tilting the dagger left and right so the edge shimmered in the sunlight. Alistair nodded in acknowledgement.  
"It looks enchanted. A small one probably, just to sharpen the edge and increase the durability."  
Georgia stared at the blade as if it was made of solid gold.

"Enchanted?" She questioned. "How could a bandit like him have something like this?"  
She spared a cursory glance for the corpse by her feet.  
"He doesn't look the type for fancy equipment."  
Alistair shrugged.  
"It's only a small thing, and with the number of refugees on the road bandits have had good pickings. Maybe he stole it from a merchant, or stole enough coin to splash out on a better weapon." He cocked his head and furrowed his brow at her slightly.  
"Why does it interest you so much? You're acting like you've never seen an enchantment before. Aren't dwarves famous for them?"  
Georgia shook her head, a familiar bitter grimace coming to her face.  
"Not dwarves like me. They'd never let me within ten feet of anything as nice as this."

She slotted the dagger into one of the sheathes strapped to her back, replacing one of the ones she had carried with her from Dust Town. She wrapped the old one up and placed it at the bottom of her pack, ready to sell later.  
"Come on, let's get moving."  
They continued on their way, but Georgia couldn't fight the urge to practice and play with her new dagger. She'd never owned anything so nice before. She'd hardly owned anything at all before, anything she did have was always indirectly owned by Berhat.  
Rica had said that joining the wardens was a chance for a new start, a chance to do something great with her life, a chance for change.  
Perhaps this was only the beginning.


	3. Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A face from the past can find you in unexpected places

As the final riddle was answered, the spirit disappeared like the others and the large doors opened to allow them to move forward. Georgia stepped into the corridor, rather pleased with herself for getting the answer correct and not having to face another demon, and stopped as she did so, seeing the dwarf that stood mere feet away.  
"Hey, what's shaping?"  
He turned and smiled at her, like he had many times over the years, but this time she couldn't smile back.

"L-Leske?" She asked, biting her lip and almost retreating in fear. "You're dead."  
"You're right I'm dead. No thanks to you 'salroka'"  
He wagged a finger in her direction and guilt squeezed her chest, followed quickly by that reflexive anger burned in her veins.  
"You betrayed me to Jarvia!" She yelled, tears beginning to gather in the corners of her eyes.  
"What else could I have done?" He replied, tone flat and even, no trace of the vengefulness she expected from an angry spirit. "Jarvia owned me. We all do what we need to survive. Even you."

She wanted to argue, spit another curse in his face, say she would never betray him like that. But the more she thought about it the more she realised his words rang true.  
She would never have wanted to betray him, but she did what she had to do. If it had been her life on the line? If it had been Rica's? She wasn't certain she would have kept her moral high ground. Her anger deflated from her and she avoided his eyes.

"I'm sorry it ended this way." She muttered.  
"Sorry?" He replied. "You're not sorry. You left us in the darkest mud pit this side of the deep roads and didn't think twice about us."  
The same anger almost reached her tongue but it quieted once more, even faster than the first time. She knew he was right. They had given her their blessing to leave and she had gone, been so caught up in her new life and her own struggles she hadn't spared more than a thought for them until she returned to Orzammar. If the blight hadn't driven her home to look for help, it might have been years before she ever spoke to them again.  
Wardens leave their old lives behind.

Guilt threatened to overwhelm her but he spoke once more.  
"That's the way it goes isn't it? You can't afford to think about the past. You have to look forward. I'm proud of you for moving on."  
Something about the magic in this place left her feeling strange, tears barely held back. She wondered if the real Leske ever knew her this well, or if it was all a trick of the spirits. Something in her didn't care.

"Here." He reached out and placed a thin chain into her hand, but his fingers felt more like a cool breeze than solid flesh.  
"I found this lying around and I've no use for it. I know you'll do something good with it."  
She looked down at a small amulet in her palm. A symbol she didn't recognise decorated the front, and the back was mirrored with silver.  
"Goodbye, my friend. Remember me."  
She looked up in time to see the spirit vanish, and tears fell freely onto the metal in her palm, a fleeting reflection giving her an unnatural sense of comfort as a final whisper escaped her lips.  
"I will."


	4. Legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One last night, before everything changes

She left the room behind and hurried down the stairs, trying not to think about whatever was going on behind those closed doors.  
She had done what she had to to survive, like always, but something in her wondered if she ever went too far. Magic like this... No. She trusted Morrigan to have her best interests at heart. They would all survive this, Georgia was determined to make it so.

Caught up in her thoughts as she was as she hurried ahead, she didn't notice the woman coming the other way until she had walked straight into her chest. Soft arms closed around her back and she looked up into Leliana's grinning face with a fierce blush.  
"Going somewhere in a hurry?" She asked and Georgia simply relaxed into her embrace.  
"Sorry hun." She murmured, and Leliana's face softened into a sympathetic frown.  
"What's wrong Georgie? You're not normally this quiet."

Georgia didn't respond. She knew she couldn't lie to Leliana, she was a terrible liar and Leliana was an excellent bard. But she couldn't bring herself to discuss what she had done, or rather convinced Alistair to do. Would Leliana approve? She couldn't tell.  
Leliana attempted to fill the silence.  
"Are you worried about the battle?" She asked softly, and Georgia simply nodded. It wasn't a lie, of course she was nervous, and it was a convenient way to postpone that conversation for another day.  
"Come on, let's go somewhere quiet."  
Leliana suggested, and they walked towards one of the guest bedrooms, hands clasped softly.

Minutes later they laid in bed together, limbs entwined, Georgia's head burrowed into Leliana's neck, listening to her hum softly in her angelic tones.  
"You've looked distraught ever since you came back from speaking to Riordan." Leliana ventured eventually. "What did he tell you?"  
"It's... warden secrets, love, I'm not allowed to tell." Georgia replied, trying to evade the question. Leliana pouted.  
"Surely you can tell little old me."  
Georgia sighed, quickly ceding under the gentle pressure.  
"He told us how to kill an archdemon. It won't be easy but... if we make it there I can kill it. I know it."  
Her tone became brighter as she went on, the anticipation building in her mind. She could end this.

"Truly?" Leliana asked, leaning up and looking at her directly. Georgia pouted slightly at the loss of her comfortable position but raised herself up also and nodded.  
"Then it will really all end tomorrow."  
Leliana sounded afraid of the first time, and the change in tone shocked Georgia. She was always so cheerful and optimistic, Georgia didn't quite know what to do.  
She sat up straighter and touched Leliana lightly on the shoulder.

"What's wrong? This is a good thing right? We can end the blight here."  
Leliana smiled at her with concerned eyes.  
"Of course it's a good thing. It's simply strange. We've been travelling and fighting for so long, and it all comes down to this."  
She placed her hand gently on Georgia's face.  
"Please be careful?" She pleaded. "You are so special to me. I could not bare to lose you."  
Georgia smiled reassuringly at her.  
"Don't be so melancholy Leli, I won't let anything come between us. We're going to destroy the darkspawn tomorrow, strike the archdemon down. I promise."

She grinned giddily like a child before a birthday, her voice growing excited.  
"Think of it, Leli. Us. The women who ended the blight. People will have to take notice then. No more sulking around in the shadows, sleeping rough and always watching our backs. We'll be respected. We'll be legends! The shaper can stick that in his stupid memories."  
A hint of bitterness crept into her voice, but Leliana laughed at her excitement and the sweet bells made Georgia soften. She flopped back onto the bed, the light still sparkling in her eyes.

"They'll write songs about us." Georgia hummed contentedly. "And you can sing them."  
Leliana gazed at her fondly and relaxed to lay beside her. "Singing songs about ourselves? Is that not arrogant?" She asked in playful tones.  
"Have we not earned a little arrogance?" Georgia replied and swept some hair away from Leliana's face.  
"Besides, I love to hear you sing. So do it for me okay?"  
Leliana kissed her gently, soft fingertips gracing the skin across her back.  
"Okay." She sighed quietly. "Anything for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with some of my others, this is the last one I have written for now. I have others planned, but no set idea of when they'll be ready to post, so I'm marking this finished for now!


End file.
